Carlos Alvarado sworn in as president of Costa Rica

Xinhua,May 11, 2018
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SAN JOSE, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Carlos Alvarado Quesada, 38, was sworn in as the new president of Costa Rica on Tuesday at Democracy Square in the capital, San Jose.

Alvarado, who won the second round of the presidential election on April 1, received the presidential sash from his predecessor, Luis Guillermo Solis, during an inauguration ceremony.

After being sworn in, Alvarado spoke about the challenges facing the country in the next four years, especially in 2021, the bicentennial of Costa Rica's independence.

"I invite you to work to recover the capacity to believe in ourselves and in what we can achieve. We have the ethical and historical obligation to be consistent in our legacy of peace, democracy and respect for the environment," said Alvarado.

He added that he aimed to see important improvements in health and education, while also speeding up public works and attending to the country's growing fiscal deficit.

"Our government has proposed to take the deficit from its current situation, which exceeds 6.2 percent of GDP, to 3 percent by the end of the mandate," said the new president.

He made a direct call to Costa Rica's legislative assembly to rapidly revise and pass his fiscal reform law.

According to Alvarado, he would also focus on fighting tax evasion and smuggling, while improving tax collection and making public expenditure more efficient.

"All people live under our clean blue sky, which is why the government of the bicentennial is pluralistic. It is born of an agreement ... to maintain dialogue, to build agreements, and the will to remain united to answer the fair hopes of the entire population," he vowed. Enditem